JPH0623244A - Sealing method for hollow fiber membrane module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sealing method for a hollow fiber membrane module by which protrusion of hollow fiber membrane is prevented in the sealing process of the module case. CONSTITUTION:A lot of bundles of hollow fiber membrane 3 are inserted in a module case 2, and the hollow fiber membrane 31 near the apperture of the module case 2 is joined with the module case 2. Then a sealing material 4 is injected to the apperture of the module case 2 through the end side of the membrane 3 to seal the space among each hollow fiber membrane 3 and seal the space between the hollow fiber membrane 3 and the module case 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for sealing a hollow fiber membrane module used in, for example, household water purifiers, medical or industrial filtration devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of hollow fiber membrane module, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), a large number of hollow fiber membranes 101 are bundled and inserted into a module case 100, and each hollow fiber membrane 101 is inserted. The gaps between them and the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes 101 and the module case 100 are filled with a sealing material 105 to seal the opening of the module case 100.

As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the sealing material is filled with the module case 100 in which the hollow fiber membrane 101 is inserted.
By mounting the adapter 102 on the opening of the module case 100 to close the opening of the module case 100 and injecting the sealing material 103 under pressure, the sealing material 103 is injected into the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes 101 and the hollow fiber membranes. 101 and module case 100
It was designed to fill and seal the gap between them.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method of injecting the sealing material 103 from the side surface of the adapter,
As shown in FIGS. 3 (c) and 3 (d), there is a problem in that the sealing material 103 does not rotate to the side opposite to the injection side and a defective product is formed.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 (e), a base 104 is provided in the adapter 102, the end face of the hollow fiber membrane 101 is abutted against the base 104, and as shown in FIG.
A method of injecting the sealing material 103 in the vertical direction from the end face side of the hollow fiber membrane 101 through the space between the four is adopted.

However, as shown in FIG. 3 (g), the sealing material 1
There was a problem that the hollow fiber membrane 101 was lifted from the base 104 by the pressure of 03 and protruded from the module case 100 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3 (e).

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The object is to prevent the hollow fiber membrane from moving due to the injection pressure of the sealing material in the module case sealing step. It is to provide a method for sealing such a hollow fiber membrane module.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a bundle of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is inserted into a module case, and the hollow fiber membranes near the open end of the module case are inserted. To the module case, and then sealant is injected into the opening of the module case from the end surface side of the bundled hollow fiber membranes to seal the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes and the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes and the module case. It is characterized by stopping.

[0009]

In the present invention, the sealing material is injected in the sealing step by joining the hollow fiber membrane near the opening end to the opening end of the module case separately from the sealing material. It is possible to prevent movement of the hollow fiber membrane due to pressure.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 (a) shows an example of a hollow fiber membrane module whose opening is sealed by the sealing method of the present invention. The hollow fiber membrane module 1 of the illustrated example is of a total filtration type, and roughly includes a module case 2, a large number of hollow fiber membranes 3 filled in the module case 2, and an end portion of each hollow fiber membrane 3. And a potting material 4 as a sealing material that is fixed to the module case 2. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the hollow fiber membrane 3 is a porous filamentous member having an internal passage 3a penetrating through it, and the undiluted solution is filtered by passing through the membrane wall 3b, and the filtrate is sealed through the internal passage 3a. It is designed to flow out from the end face of the stop.

The module case 2 has a tubular shape, and each hollow fiber membrane 3 is bent in a U shape. Both ends of the hollow fiber membrane 3 are aligned with the open end of the module case 2 and are bundled together. The terminal portion is fixed to the module case 2 by the potting material 4. The potting material 4 is each hollow fiber membrane 3
The gaps between them and the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes 3 and the module case 2 are filled in an airtight state to separate the internal space and the external space of the module case 2.

In the step of sealing the hollow fiber membrane module, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the module case 2
The potting material 4 is injected by mounting the potting adapter 6 on.

2 (e) to 2 (g) show a concrete example of this adapter 6. As shown in FIG.

That is, the adapter 6 is a cap-shaped member, and the inner end face thereof is provided with a pedestal 7 divided into four parts. An injection port 8 for injecting the potting material 4 is formed on the side surface of the adapter 6 so as to project.

In the present invention, before the adapter 6 is mounted, heat is applied to the opening end 21 of the module case 2 on the side where the potting material 4 is injected to heat the module case 2.
The end of the hollow fiber membrane 31 in the vicinity is joined to the open end 21 of the module case 2.

At this time, the module case 2 includes the hollow fiber membrane 3
It is desirable to have a lower melting point, and it is desirable to apply heat instantly and uniformly over the entire surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the module case 2 must be provided with a melting margin 10 in advance. When heat is applied to the end surface of the module case 2, the portion of the melting margin 10 melts,
The end portion 31 of the hollow fiber membrane 3 near the open end of the module case 2 is integrally fused to the module case 2.

After joining the hollow fiber membranes 3 to the module case 2, the end openings of the hollow fiber membranes 3 are welded and closed so that the potting material 4 does not enter through the end openings of the hollow fiber membranes in the potting process. To do.

The step of welding the end opening of the hollow fiber membrane 3 and the step of joining the module case 2 and the hollow fiber membrane 3 may be carried out simultaneously without being separate steps. In that case, the melting points of the module case 2 and the hollow fiber membrane 3 are set to appropriate values so that they can be welded at the same time.

As described above, the potting adapter 6 is attached to the open end 21 of the module case 2 with the hollow fiber membrane 3 near the open end being joined separately from the potting material 4. At that time, of the inserted hollow fiber membranes 3,
The hollow fiber membrane 31 located on the outermost periphery is welded to the module case 2 at the joint portion 5, but the other hollow fiber membranes 3 are arranged in the direction of protruding from the open end 21 of the module case 2 to the adapter 6 side. In a free state. In the illustrated example, the end of the hollow fiber membrane 3 at the center in this free state is also aligned with the opening end position of the module case 2, but the end of the hollow fiber membrane 3 at the center is the adapter 6. You may make it contact | abut with the base part 7 of this, and may position it. The hollow fiber membrane 3 in the central portion is attached to the base portion 7
Even if the hollow fiber membrane 3 is brought into contact with, the space 9 is formed between the end surface of the hollow fiber membrane 3 and the bottom surface of the adapter 6.

The potting material 4 injected from the injection port 8 of the adapter 6 passes through the space 9 between the base portions 7 of the adapter 6 and is injected from the end face side of the hollow fiber membrane 3 toward the central axis of the module case 2, The gaps between the hollow fiber membranes 3 and the gaps between the hollow fiber membranes 3 and the module case 2 are filled and sealed.

This injection pressure acts in the direction of pushing the bundle of hollow fiber membranes 3 out of the module case 2, but since the hollow fiber membranes 3 are joined to the module case 2, the hollow fiber membranes 3
Can be prevented from moving. That is, the hollow fiber membrane 3
Is joined only to the portion closest to the module case 2, but the joined portion is the outermost peripheral portion of the hollow fiber membrane 3. Therefore, the movement of the other hollow fiber membranes 3 located in the central portion is the outermost hollow fiber membrane 31. Movement is restricted by the module case 2
It is possible to suppress the protrusion from. Next, although not shown, after the filled potting material 4 is cured,
The adapter 6 is removed from the module case 2, the end portion of the module case 2 is cut by a predetermined width, and the closed hollow fiber membranes 3 are opened to complete the hollow fiber membrane module.

As described above, when the module case 2 is cut, the hollow fiber membrane 3 does not have a joint portion at the open end of the completed hollow fiber membrane module, but only the hollow fiber membrane 3 is cut and the module case 2 is cut. The hollow fiber membrane joint portion 5 may be left at the open end of the. In that case, the potting material 4 may be injected and cured with the hollow fiber membrane 3 at the center of the module case 2 protruding into the adapter 6, and after removing the adapter 6, only the hollow fiber membrane 3 may be cut. .

In the above embodiment, the full-filtration type hollow fiber membrane module has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a full-filtration type, and the openings at both ends of the module case may be used. Of course, it can be widely applied to various types of hollow fiber membrane modules such as potted cross-flow type hollow fiber membrane modules.

[0025]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration and action. By joining the module case and the hollow fiber membrane, it is possible to prevent the movement of the hollow fiber membrane when injecting the sealing material, It is possible to prevent problems such as protrusion of the hollow fiber membrane from the module case as in the conventional case, and stabilize the quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a schematic vertical sectional view of a hollow fiber membrane module of the present invention, FIG. 1 (b) is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing a hollow fiber membrane, and FIG. It is a module case schematic block diagram in which the adapter used for the sealing method of the hollow fiber membrane module of the invention was mounted.

FIG. 2 (a) is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of a state before joining the hollow fiber membrane and the opening end of the module case, and FIG. 2 (b) shows a joining state of the hollow fiber membrane and the opening end of the module case. Cross section of the main part,
(C) and (d) are cross-sectional views of the principal part showing the potting material injection state in the sealing process, (e) is a vertical cross-sectional view of the potting adapter, and (f) is the same figure (e). Figure 2 (g) is a plan view of
It is the gg line sectional view of (f).

FIG. 3 (a) is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional hollow fiber membrane module, FIG. 3 (b) is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a mounted state of an adapter used in a conventional sealing process, and FIG. 3 (c). , (d) is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a potting material injection state in the sealing process, (e) is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing an adapter mounting state used in another conventional sealing process, and (f) is the same. ) and (g) are cross-sectional views of essential parts showing a potting material injection state when the adapter of (e) is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hollow Fiber Membrane Module 2 Module Case 21 Open End 3 Hollow Fiber Membrane 31 Outermost Hollow Fiber Membrane 4 Potting Agent (Sealant) 5 Joint 6 Adapter 7 Units 8 Injection Port 9 Passage 10 Melt Free

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bundle of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is inserted into a module case, the hollow fiber membranes near the open end of the module case are joined to the module case, and then the module is inserted from the end face side of the bundled hollow fiber membranes. A method for sealing a hollow fiber membrane module, which comprises injecting a sealing material into an opening of a case to seal a gap between the hollow fiber membranes and a gap between the hollow fiber membrane and a module case.